Bed-spring.



G. 'B.- SMITH.

BED SPRING.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 28,1908.

Patented Dec.20, 1910.

4 I attunuao Wit" use:

THE menus PETEES co, W/ISHINGTUN, 1: c.

. of several strands twisted together.

GARY B. SMITH, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

BED-SPRING.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

rammed Dec. 20, 1910.

Application filed December28, 1908. Serial No. 469,557.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GARY B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at'Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and useful Bed-Spring, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to bed-bottoms of fabric, and the object of thesame is to produce such a bottom wherein the loops will retain theirshape but the transverse sections maybe folded upon each other so as tococupy but very little space.

To this end the invention consists in the provision of a particular formof twist between the sections of the fabric where they meet which willpermit them to flex in one direction but prevent them from slipping oneach other in the other direction. Details will be found below.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 is a plan view of the portionof'the bed spring. Fig. 2 is a plan View of one of the sections of thebed spring. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the spliced ends of one of thesections of the bed spring. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing themanner in which the sections of the bed spring may fold one .uponanother.

The bed fabric herein shown is to be composed of wire cable which asusual consists The cable is cut into lengths a little greaterthan twicethe width of the fabric, and each length is bent at about its center at6 and then formed as follows and constitutes one section of the fabric.

The two arms of the fabric are designated by the numbers 1 and 2, andone arm forms one side of all the loops in a transverse row and theother arm the other side. The loops herein are shown as of diamond shapewhich I prefer, although that shape is not essential. Proceeding alongeach section from its bend, each arm is given a series of twists 7perhaps best seen at the left of Fig. 2 where each twist comprises firstan upward bend 71, then a downward bend 72, and then another upward bend7 3; but it will be seen in Fi 1 that in the next twist the first bend81 is downward, the next 82 is upward,and the third 83 is againdownward, so that while each twist 7 comprises three bends. therespective position of the bends is alternated along the arm. Thisarrangement prevails in all sections except that at the end of the haveplain bends 11 as usual.

entire fabric where the outer arm 10 may Assuming otherwise that fromthe end bend '6 of each section the next adjacent twist in one arm 1comprises the bends 81, 82, 83 while the twist 7 directly opposite inthe other arm 2 comprises the bends 71, 72, 73, if these are alternatedin the second twists of the same arms of this section their bends willcome together and engage each other. It follows then that the first pairof twists form the sides '5 of the diamond adjacent the bend 6 and mustengage the sides of the diamonds in the next two sections, while thenext pair of twists which engage each other form the end at of the firstdiamond, and so on across the fabric. While the mannerof or machine formaking this fabric forms no part of the present invention, the fact thatthe construction of the twists is such that they can all be made in asingle die is important as showin the cheapness and ease with which theabrio can be manufactured. The opposite and alternated disposition ofthe series of bends constituting the twists presents them in exactly theroper positions to engage the side twists o the next two sections so asto form the sides 5 of the loop, while the arms 1 and 2 come nexttogether and their twists engage each other to form the end 4 of theloop, then they again diverge, and so on across the fabric. But animportant feature of the present invention lies in the fact that thisdisposition of the twists permits the loops of one section to flex attheir sides with those of the next, without permitting any loop to bedistorted out of shape at either end. It is obvious therefore that thesaid sections may be swung laterally so that they may be folded one uponthe other in the manner asindicated in Fig. 4: of the drawing wherebythe said sections will occupy but small space and are in convenient formfor storage and shipping purposes. The hinged joints formed at thepoints 5 are also of such nature that the sec-' tions cannot movelongitudinally with relation to each other, therefore the sectionscannot become displaced throughout the bed spring and they cannot movetransversely of v e the bed and thereby cause creaking sounds. It willalso be observed that the hinged joints or connections 5 will assistmaterially in preserving the shape of the loops through out the sectionsof the bed spring.

Fig. 8 of the drawing illustrates the manner in which the ends of thesections are spliced together. The extremity of the side 2 of the cableof which the section is formed is carried around the end of the terminalor initial loop and the extremity of the side 1 of the said cable isalso carried around the end of the said initial or terminal loop. Thesaid extremities are then spirally twisted together in the manner asshown in Fig. 3 so that each side has an extremity passing around. theend of the loop and projecting into the opposite side. As the end of theloop is adapted to engage a securing device such for instance as a pegor other support, the said securing device will occur at the end of theloop and consequently the end portions of the cable are projected intothe returned bend of the loop as an entirety. By so joining the ends ofthe cable together a very strong splice is provided and one which may beeasily opened by straightening out the end of the loop when theextremities of the side portions 1 and 2 of the cable may be readilyuntwisted from each other. The cables of which the sections are formedare preferably made up of a series of wires helically twisted together,although single resilient wires may be employed if desired.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is A bed bottom fabric composed of wire cable formedin sections, each having a plain bend at its center and its arms formedthroughout their length with a series of twists alternately separatedfrom and connected with each other, each twist comprising a bend in onedirection, a bend in the other, and a third bend in the first direction,the twists in each arm being disposed with their bends alternating sothat they will engage the twists in the other arm where said arms areconnected and the ends of the arms having their strands twistedtogether.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GARY B. SMITH.

\Vitnesses F. SMITH, C. C. LELAND.

